Follow Gods Heart- not your own Heart 12-26-2021

Pop Culture

A popular saying is,

“Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”

It sounds nice and it seems so reasonable,

because there is some truth to it.

But it’s not really true.

Every kind of work has it’s drudgery.

Every thing we love to do can become a chore when we have to do it too much.

One skilled craftsman, was offered a job doing what he loved

and he said no

Because the quotas that would be put on him, would take the joy

out of the job.

Vickie loves working with horses and mules,

but there are times, when it’s just work, and she would like to shoot something.

I love studying the bible and writing messages,

but some days when I’m tired

when I have other things I need to do

and it’s much harder to keep my nose to the grindstone.

So although the saying is basicly true

Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”

It’s not totally true.

And to believe it, is to be decived by your heart.

My heart says to me often

where is your friend Don, it’s time to check up on him

or visit with him

Then my head correct,

no you can’t

Don’s in heaven and

someday you can go to him, but he is not here with us. (2 Sam 12:23)

Truly the heart and the mind, are two separate things.

In my mind, I know Don Morrison is gone.

but my heart, keeps nudging “It’s time to call him up and see how he’s doing”

Sometimes our hearts get excited about something like a unicycle and we fixate on it

and our heart tries to convince us, that if you just had this thing,

life would be wonderful.

Some of us have gotten that thing and after a while wondered why you wanted it in the first place.

How tragic it is when a young person falls in love with their picture of a career, and then doesn’t like the job.

Like someone who persues training to be a teacher, and then finds they

don’t like working with children!!!

Sometimes our hearts get fixed on a person,

If you could just win their affection,

life would be great,

they are so exciting,

so daring

yet your mind says

but this other person over here,

is good and

stable and

really cares about you.

The heart, the human heart is not the best guide to follow.

Similar advice is

“Follow your heart”

It sounds like good advice,

but sometimes your heart gives you really stupid advice, like

Quit your job and moves to the Bahamas.

I wonder how many people let alright jobs, because they were inspired by the song

“Take this job and shove it”

Why are our hearts so dangerous to follow?

1. Our hearts are emotional

Have you noticed,

angry people say

stupid things

they don’t mean.

Angry people do things they will regret doing.

One older man told me about the day

he lost his temper with his best friend

he went to his pickup and got his deer rifle

and came shockingly close to killing

his best friend.

So our stirred up heart,

our angry heart,

our bitter heart

can head us in the wrong direction

Our proud hearts can think too highly of

our achievements,

our capabilities

our skill at poker

Our proud hearts can also exagerate our childrens skills and abilities.

Our kids are the best

Our kids are the brightest

When couples take the Prepare Enrich survey for marriage pre-marital counseling,

there is actually a scale for unrealistic expectations.

Guys and Gals can have those, if they follow their hearts too closely.

My sister was about 18 when she met Calvin, and

she loved everything about him.

She wanted to join him in everything he did.

So, she took up hunting.

I thought

“No way, not my sister!”

After about 6 months of marriage,

my sister realized

she really didn’t like killing bambi.

Her heart for Calvin had clouded her thinking.

Gods word says

Romans 12:3 NIV

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

2. Our hearts are unreliable

The Bible warns us that

Proverbs 14:12 NIV

12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

Studies have proven that emotions cloud our judgment and decision-making.

Just because we “feel” something is right,

doesn’t make it right.

After all,

if we all did what felt right at the end of the day, there would be a shortage of pizza and an abundance of vegetables.

To put it simply —

Following your heart will likely lead you to a place you don’t want to be.

What paths has your heart lead you down that you regret?

3. Our hearts are deceitful

Our culture has made the heart a new god

-infallible and

sovereign.

Disney and Romantic movies have fed us too much illusion about the hearts wisdom.

However, the Bible teaches just the opposite.

The prophet Jeremiah said that our hearts are so deceitful and sinful, we can’t even understand it (Jeremiah 17:9).

In other words,

Our hearts lie to us!

A feeling so right, it can’t be wrong.

Heat deception may look like

denial,

rationalization,

exaggerating, or

minimizing,

but the truth is

Our hearts deceive us.

[slowly]

So if our hearts our not at all qualified to lead us.

Who or what should we follow?

Three things.

Follow the commands of God’s Word.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says that our hearts were designed to trust God, not ourselves-- “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…”

God’s will is found in God’s Word.

We must submit our heart to Him!

Either you will let God’s Word change you or you will try to change God’s Word.

Follow the counsel of God’s People.

Never make a major decision on your own.

Seek the counsel of others.

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls,

but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety” (Proverbs 11:4 ESV).

Follow the conviction of God’s Spirit.

When our hearts are submitted to God,

he can speak to our hearts through His Spirit.

We call it “God’s still, small voice.”

God’s Spirit speaks to us through our conscience and directs our lives (John 14:17; 16:8, 13; 1 Corinthians 3:16).

Or to put it another way,

Rather than following our hearts,

God wants us to be

“be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—

His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2).

Lets Pray.